Serenades
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day one hundred and sixteen: VALENTINES #11 Will proposes a way for the club to recognize Valentine's Day.


Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a second cycle, and then a third, fourth, and fifty cycle. Now here's cycle 6!

Valentine's Day is coming, of course I couldn't ignore it! So I picked ten couples (some with OC characters) and set them for a love fest! :D Then on Valentine's Day, a group story! (not that kind of group, minds out of the gutter!) *cough* Anyhoo...  
**Valentine for the Gleeks, 11 of 11: All**

* * *

**"Serenades"  
Will & New Directions**

They had all become pretty good at telling when Mr. Schuester had a new project for them. He had a bounce in his step, and when he saw them, his eyes lit up. That day, as they sat there chatting along, he came in with his idea face.

"I thought we'd have some fun, with Valentine's Day coming up. Now I know this may not be a holiday you care about or want to think about, so we're going to take a different route."

"Angry breakup songs?" Santana suggested, getting some chuckles.

"No," he bowed his head.

"Oh, please note ballads again," Kurt begged. Will raised a hand to get a word in. Once he had their attention, he nodded.

"I'm sure you know this one: girls on one side, guys on the other, and Kurt," he looked at him, giving him a pointed look. As they all shuffled to the sides as requested, Kurt shook his head to himself. "Alright, here's what I had in mind. Girls, as a group, you perform to the guys, your… dedicated audience. And guys, you do the same… for the girls," he pointed from one side to the other and back as he spoke.

"Who gets to go first?" Rachel raised her hand.

"It's up to you all to choose," Will nodded.

"I've got a quarter," Brittany reached in her sock. As she sat back up with the coin in hand, she found the others staring at her. "Heads or tails," she explained. Rachel took the quarter and went to hand it to Mr. Schuester before looking to the guys. Almost as one, they nudged Finn to stand for them at the toss. He finally joined Rachel and Mr. Schuester.

"Call it?" Mr. Schuester nodded as he tossed the quarter.

"Heads," Rachel followed the coin's travel as she spoke.

"Tails," Finn obliged. The coin landed, and Mr. Schuester lifted his hand to reveal it. Finn and Rachel looked. The order was set.

Once the groups split up to get things started, it was clear to see how they'd evolved as a club, since the days of their vitamin-dosed mash-ups. They still clashed on some things, but that could never really go away; it was part of who they were. They had changed though, so it showed.

The guys hadn't had to evolve all that much… on their part the problem was another, mostly on the matter of Puck and Finn and the fallout after the Quinn situation. It had been months, but the tension was still very present. For the sake of the club, they tried to ignore it.

"Is this going to be a problem for you?" Finn asked Kurt as the six of them sat together.

"Your concern is touching, Finn. Don't worry, I can play along. And I can imagine my own audience," he nodded, drifting off in thought for a moment.

"Okay," Puck brought the rest of them back. "What are we doing? I don't know what kind of song you guys are thinking about, I…"

"I think I got it," Finn cut in, and he and Puck shared a look before Finn turned to the guys to tell them.

With the girls, things had taken a turn for a bond they didn't have before. Animosity had decreased, and lessons had been learned, and lessons had been learned. Their one obstacle was Quinn who, ever closer to her due date, wasn't moving as she used to. She was still with them though, and she brought the first idea to the table.

"We gotta make them feel… nervous, almost." This agreed with the others. Rachel looked to them before she spoke up.

"They won't know what's going on until the song starts," she nodded.

"Yeah," Quinn nodded back at her.

"I think I have the perfect song for that," she smiled, then, "We might need to go shopping."

"For what?" Santana asked, curious. Rachel smiled on.

The day of the performances, neither group knew what to expect. They arrived in their groups. The guys were dressed casually yet formally, suit jackets and undone ties. They had nothing on the girls though. All six of them came in, oddly enough, in long coats. They didn't say a word, though Santana had to reign in Brittany, who seemed ready to spill the beans.

When Mr. Schuester came in, he laughed amused at the sight of them. "Wow… I," he chuckled. "Well, alright. Are you ready?" he looked to them. Everyone nodded, as the guys moved into place to do their number. As always, they were the picture of cool, though not nearly as hyper as the last time.

The song began, and the guys hummed as one before Puck took to the front.

_[P] "Put your lovin' hand out, baby... I'm Beggin'..."_

Choreographed by Mike and Matt, the boys moved into the dance as their voices joined, still with Puck on lead.

_[5] "Beggin'" / [P] "Beggin' you, put your lovin' hand out, baby!" / [5] "Baby!"_

_[5] "Beggin'" / [P] "Beggin' you, put your lovin' hand out, baby!" / [5] "Baby!"_

_[P] "Ridin' high when I was king / Playin' it hard and fast cause I had everything / Walked away, and warned me then / That easy come and easy go and it would end"_

As they carried on, they made a good show to the girls, who played their part as 'hard to get,' though the whole thing amused them to no end. And Kurt did as promised, playing the act as sincere as the others.

_[6] "I need you to understand / That I'm trying so hard to be your man / The kind of man you'd want in the end / Only then can I begin to live again"_

_[5] "Beggin'" / [P] "Beggin' you, won't you give your hand out, baby?" / [5] "Baby!"_

_[5] "Beggin'" / [P] "Beggin' you, put your lovin' hands out, baby!" / [5] "Baby!"_

He tried not to, but Puck couldn't help turning his gaze toward Quinn as he sang, seeing if she was reacting at all. She kept a strong front, something he wondered might have to do with Finn standing by, seeing as well.

_[P] "An empty shell of used to be / The shadow of my life is hangin' over me / A broken man without a goal / Don't even stand a devil's chance to win my soul"_

_[5] "Beggin'" / [P] "Beggin' you, put your lovin' hands out, baby!" / [5] "Baby!"_

_[5] "Beggin'" / [P] "Beggin' you, put your lovin' hands out, baby!" / [5] "Baby!"_

As the six stood side by side singing, they looked at all of the girls sitting across from them, musically pleading.

_[6] "I'm fightin' hard to hold my own / No, I just can't make it all alone / I'm holdin' on, I can't fall back / Now that big brass ring is a shade of black"_

_[5] "Beggin'" / [P] "Beggin' you, put your lovin' hand out, baby!" / [5] "Baby!"_

_[5] "Beggin'" / [P] "Beggin' you, put your lovin' hand out, baby!" / [5] "Baby!"_

_[P] "I'm Beggin....."_

Finn, Puck, Kurt, Mike and Matt fell to their knees as the song ended, leaving the girls and Mr. Schuester to applaud.

"Good job, guys, that was excellent. You girls ready to follow?" he looked to them while the guys got back up. The girls shared a smirk as they stood, moving past the guys who took their seats.

"Oh, yeah," Santana promised.

"You, uh… This isn't going to be…" Mr. Schuester looked on as they started to untie their coats. His concern disappeared as the coats fell away to reveal the dresses, giving the six girls an air of sophistication. "Alright, then," he nodded. "Carry on."

The music started, and as they went on and the solos came, they stepped up.

_[R] "Looking out on the morning rain / I used to feel so uninspired"_

_[Q] "And when I knew I had to face another day / Lord, it made me feel so tired"_

_[B] "Before the day I met you, life was so unkind / But you're the key to my peace of mind"_

Half in front and half on the back row, they let the song speak for itself, no complicated theatrics.

_[6] "Cause you make me feel, / you make me feel, / you make me feel like / A natural woman"_

_[M] "When my soul was in the lost-and-found / You came along to claim it"_

_[T] "I didn't know just what was wrong with me / 'Til your kiss helped me name it"_

_[S] "Now I'm no longer doubtful of what I'm living for / and if I make you happy I don't need to do more"_

Now all six lined up, the power truly started to kick in.

_[6] "Cause you make me feel, / you make me feel, / you make me feel like A natural woman_

_[M] "Oh, baby, what you've done to me" / [5] "What you've done to me"_

_[M] "You make me feel so good inside" / [5] "Good inside"_

_[M] "And I just want to be" / [5] "Want to be"/ [M] "Close to you / You make me feel so alive."_

The guys were all smiles, much as the girls had been as they carried on the song to its end.

_[6] "You make me feel, / You make me feel, / You make me feel like / A natural woman"_

_[6] "You make me feel, / You make me feel, / You make me feel like / A natural woman"_

The applause broke out once more, the guys on their feet to congratulate the girls. Dressed up as they all were, the idea came that they should go off and have a little more fun. They invited Mr. Schuester, but he insisted they should go off on their own. He had his own Valentine waiting.

THE END


End file.
